Last week, a judge in Price ruled that Utah’s state engineer acted properly in allowing a development company to lease water rights in the Green River for a proposed nuclear power plant. Blue Castle Holdings is now planning to move ahead with the next step -- applications to federal regulators for the plant itself.

Blue Castle has agreed to lease rights to more than 53,000 acre-feet of water to operate a 3,000 megawatt power plant near Green River. Environmental groups had challenged the agreement, and they may yet appeal the court’s ruling.